Title: The Peacemaker (Matthew 5:9)
There is an English expression 'son of dog', which is an insult in Korean. Who is called the son of dog? A person who resembles a dog's bad temper. However, if you change the first and last letters of the word dog in son of dog, it becomes God called God, and it changes to son of God, 'son of God'. The 'son of God' in today's verse is the son of God.
What kind of person do you refer to as a 'son of God'? It refers to a person who resembles the character of God. In the Bible, instead of the word “son of God”, the word “child of God” is used, but they are similar. However, the Jews used the terms child and son in slightly different meanings. The word “child” is mainly used to refer to a relationship. When a person believes in God, that person becomes a child of God, and a special relationship is established by calling God the Father. However, the expression “son of God” refers to more than just being a child of God, it refers to resembling the disposition of God the Father.
In today's text, what kind of person does Jesus say will be called the Son of God? He is a peacemaker. This teaches us who God is. God loves peace and hates conflict, strife, and being like an enemy. God wants peace, so He gives peace to the world. Through the Old Testament prophet Jeremiah, God said, "I know my thoughts toward you, not disaster, but peace, to give you hope in your future" (Jeremiah 29:11).
What kind of peace is God speaking of? These days, the father loses his job due to the IMF and the mother runs away. The father has to find a job and work, but he cannot keep up with the children without mothers, so the number of children being sent to orphanages is increasing. . Among the young runaway women, there are people who work in entertainment establishments, and they say that at first they suffered because of their children, but now they are comfortable after a day or two in an environment where they can earn money easily and spend money without worrying about food. This comfort is not the peace that God speaks of, but a temporary one given by the environment.
The true peace that God speaks of is not based on circumstances, but rather comes from the right relationship. In a family where the mother runs away from home, the relationship between husband and wife, mother and children has been distorted by resentment, anger, and hatred. The peace that God speaks of is the peace enjoyed in a relationship where wounds are healed by restoring a relationship that has been distorted like this, hatred and anger melt like snow in the warm sunlight, and become one with love.
The cross was the most cruel tool used to put people to death at the time, so people hate the cross, but those who believe in Jesus have meaning because Jesus died on the cross. The cross has a symbolic meaning that shows the heart of God who wants peace and wants to give it. The poles of the cross are for the relationship between God and man and peace between God and man, and the crossbars are for the relationship between people, that is, for people to enjoy peace with each other. God wanted people to love each other and become one instead of quarreling, hating, and fighting because of selfishness.
In Ephesians 2:13, 14 we read, "Now you who were afar off have been made near by the blood of Christ in Christ Jesus. He is our peace, who made the two one and broke down the wall that was in between." is a symbolic expression that separates God and man like a wall that blocks sin. Sin is the root. Sin made God and man enemies.
Of course, from the beginning God and man were not enemies. Think of the Garden of Eden for a moment. When God created man, it was very good in God's eyes. They neither quarreled nor hated, they loved. "This is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh" I sang this love song and was happy. Because they loved God, they liked to hear God's voice and waited to meet God. They also loved nature, played with animals, were not afraid of snake bites, and did not worry about getting cancer, so they did not need cancer insurance, life insurance, or car insurance. They were people who could live forever.
But what caused them to lose their peace and happiness? because of sin. Adam and Eve fell into Satan's temptation and disobeyed God's word. I was afraid to see God and had no peace in my heart. Also, a strange phenomenon occurred between Adam and Eve, who had previously loved each other, and they shifted the blame to each other, saying that it was not their fault. After Adam and Eve fell in this way, humans degenerate into beings who try to take advantage of each other. They are self-centered and easily deceive others, commit violence to others, and shamelessly betray others for their own benefit. For his own sake, he would abandon and even kill his wife, husband, parents, and young children. I live in an extreme selfishness that I don't care what other people do and I just need to be okay. All relationships were broken. We live in worry and fear because of selfishness. What peace is there to a person who lives like this?
The cross of Jesus restored the distorted relationship between God and man to normal. He broke down the barriers of sin. If anyone believes in Christ, the barriers between God and me will disappear, so that we can call God Father and experience the true peace that God gives us and the peace that circumstances cannot take away.
We Christians are people who have tasted this kind of peace. To these Christians, Jesus said, “Become peacemakers.” If we truly want to live as sons of God, we must become peacemakers like Jesus. “All things are of God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation” (2 Corinthians 5:18).
Also, a peacemaker is building a bridge for people to enjoy peace. Christians have the task of uniting those who hate and fight each other. This is what Christ did. When you do this, you will be called the Son of God.
Today, people everywhere doubt, hate, feud, and fight. But this is even in the church. There are times when Christians cannot become one as they call God Father together, worship together, pray together, partake of the sacrament together, and serve together. There are people who think that meeting each other on a Sunday is a burden and burden, and they want to avoid seeing each other as much as possible. The barriers between these saints must be broken down. As long as you live by building walls, you cannot be called a son of God or a daughter of God.
We exhort and pray for others to have peace with God and with others at the cost of self-sacrifice. However, if you are in conflict with another person, hate, or quarrel, you cannot solve it well. It's really hard when I try hard and make some sacrifices for other people, but it becomes my problem. Perhaps this is the most difficult thing. Before the worship service, Jesus said, first, if you think of something against your grievance, you should first be reconciled to your brother (Matthew 5:23,24). “As far as possible, be at peace with all men” (Romans 12:18).
Making peace is not easy. That is why we must always think of Jesus, who suffered all kinds of insults and sufferings and died on the cross. The cross shows sacrifice, self-killing. We must be prepared for this sacrifice when we work for reconciliation. You cannot do peacemaking work without sacrifice. It is impossible to make peace after I have done everything I have to say, claim everything I am right, and condemn the other person. If you don't pull out the log in your own eye while looking at the speck of someone else's eye, you won't be able to make peace and enjoy peace. When God saw me, He saw me through the cross and removed the wall of sin between God and me. We too will see others differently when we see them through the cross. That is why some people say that whenever their relationship with others is difficult, they look to Jesus on the cross.
There are many young children in our church these days. When we look at children, we usually see who they resemble. Most parents love to hear that their babies resemble their parents. If our face resembles our physical father, he will be happy, but how much more will God like us if our disposition resembles God, who is our Heavenly Father and Eternal Father? How proud we are that God is our Father.
There are two kinds of people in this world. For one, there are those who, like Satan, have alienated us from God and separated us from others. We live in the same house, work in the same job, and even worship in the same church, building an invisible wall with others. The other is a peacemaker. Hearing that such a person resembles Jesus, they will be called Little Jesus, Jesus' disciple, and the Son of God.
What kind of person do we want to live? What kind of person do you want to be called? Are you son of dog? Are you the son of Satan? Or is it the son of God?
"Lord, use me as an instrument of peace. Where there is hate, love, where there is hurt, forgiveness, where there is doubt, faith, where there is despair, hope, where there is darkness, light, where there is sorrow." Let me sow joy."
-- From Saint Francis' Prayer-- (Organization: Deacon Kang Mi-ra)